What Happened To The Guy Who Played Han On 2 Broke Girls?
Matthew Moy, who gained fame playing Han from "2 Broke Girls," is an American actor and voice-over artist who has been in the Hollywood spotlight for more than a decade. You probably remember him best for his role in the acclaimed sitcom "2 Broke Girls," where he played the owner of Williamsburg Diner. But if you're a true pop culture junkie, you might recognize him for his role as Chuck in the hit romantic comedy "No Strings Attached," starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher.
Moy has been around for a while in the film industry. In fact, he has appeared on popular TV shows like "iCarly," "How I Met Your Mother," and "Criminal Minds," to name a few, proving that he is a versatile actor who can't be pigeonholed into a single genre in the film industry.
But not everything has been about on-screen acting for Moy, as he has also had a fairly successful career with video games and animated shows, lending his voice to well-loved characters. So, if you've been wondering what happened to the actor who brought Han Lee to life, you've come to the right place. Here you will find some of the most curious details about Matthew Moy's life after "2 Broke Girls" was canceled.
2 Broke Girls' Han was changed after Matthew Moy was cast
Matthew Moy is a fourth-generation Chinese American, as he told That's magazine. Yet, early in his career, he refused to be locked into stereotypical Asian roles. Indeed, he used to turn down offers for voice-over roles where Asian accents were needed.
During an interview with the New York Daily News, Moy explained that at the beginning of his career, he wanted to do his own thing. "But then I thought, if someone else is going to do them wrong, why shouldn't I do them right? And I'd make money," he noted.
His perception changed once he met the team behind "2 Broke Girls" and learned the way they wanted to do comedy. Moy confessed during the interview that the producers were not looking for something specific for the role of the diner manager. "It was down to two of us. One was tall and skinny. I'm short and round. I don't think they had anyone in mind," he said in regards to the casting process. But once he was cast, the writers began writing short jokes and adapting the character with Moy's features in mind.
How Matthew Moy said goodbye to his 2 Broke Girls character
Although the show was widely criticized for its controversial jokes, it managed to air for six seasons. Unfortunately in 2017, the network announced its cancellation, surprising not only the fans but the cast of the series as well. In fact, the show did not get a proper ending, and the cast presumably never imagined that the final episode of the sixth season would be the last they would film.
Kat Dennings, who played Max, tweeted, "We are so proud of our time on '2 Broke Girls' and of all the things this experience has given us, the most treasured is our lifelong friendship." Jonathan Kite, who portrayed Oleg, also took Twitter to say goodbye, writing, "Thank you for inviting us into your homes and allowing us to tell our story. I'm forever grateful and have cherished every moment." Beth Behrs (Caroline Channing) tweeted a GIF of Max and Caroline hugging each other, accompanied by the word "always."
Matthew Moy decided to keep his goodbye simple, and he shared a photo of the cast of "2 Broke Girls" with six black hearts and the hashtags "#EndofAnEra" and "#MuchLove."
Voice acting has always been his passion
Matthew Moy discovered acting when he was a sophomore in high school, but after that, he didn't get involved in acting for a long period of time. However, during an interview with Trainwreck'd Society, he confessed that he felt somewhat lost about what his next step in his career should be after obtaining his degree in Japanese. It was at that moment his mother suggested that he should pursue voice acting as a serious career.
"I moved to LA in 2008 with the intent of being just a voice actor," the "2 Broke Girls" actor confessed. But Matthew explained that he wasn't making enough money to sustain himself at the time, so he decided to diversify his potential income streams and learn on-screen acting as well.
One of his first achievements as a voice-over artist was when he was hired to provide the voice for Firefly, a character in the game "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" in 2009. From then on, Moy has been involved in different projects — not only for video games but also for TV.
2 Broke Girls' Matthew Moy was part of this popular animated show on Cartoon Network
After getting his first gig as a voice actor in the video game industry, doors seemed to open for Matthew Moy, as seen on his IMDb page. In 2013, he achieved his next big hit when he was cast to voice Master Yijiro in the animated television series "Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness." Moy lent his voice in the sixth episode of the third season, "The Way of the Prawn."
Given his experience, it should come as no surprise that the man behind Han from "2 Broke Girls" was cast as one of the major characters in the animated series "Steven Universe." Moy gave life to Lars Barriga, a resident of Beach City.
The show ran for six seasons and led to the film "The Steven Universe: The Movie," which premiered on September 2, 2019.
The 2 Broke Girls star appeared on TV competition shows
If Matthew Moy learned anything in his early years in Hollywood, it's that diversification is important to make it in Los Angeles. Thus, Moy has not only focused on his career as a voiceover artist and actor, he has also participated in reality shows as a special guest or contestant.
His first experience on a reality show was in 2016, when the "2 Broke Girls" actor was invited on as a contestant for the popular "Cupcake Wars" show on Food Network. He shared the screen with celebrities like actor Joey Lawrence, "The Girls Next Door" star Holly Madison, and burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese in a Season 10 episode.
So, when he was invited to be a dinner guest on Chef Gordon Ramsay's acclaimed cooking reality show "Hell's Kitchen," Moy was already a little familiar with the dynamics of reality TV. Moy appeared in the episode "Stars Heating Up Hell" from Season 17. During the episode, the contestants needed to prepare signature dishes while they got only verbal instructions. After that, both teams (red and blue) cooked a whole dinner for Moy and rapper Wyclef Jean.
You can hear his voice in the hit animated series Voltron: Legendary Defender
Snagging a role in "Steven Universe" has been one of the greatest achievements in Matthew Moy's voice acting career so far. Thanks to the animated series, Moy has obtained different opportunities, among them a voice acting gig for the animated Netflix hit "Voltron: Legendary Defender."
The show is a reboot of the successful "Voltron" franchise from the '80s, as noted by Vox, and it focuses on the adventures of five pilots and "sentient robot space lions," who assemble into the 328-foot tall robot warrior Voltron. But what makes the reboot refreshing and so appealing to the audience? Well, the perfect blend of nostalgia and great animation are two good reasons, for sure. But its secret lies in the fast pace that is offered in each storyline that prevents the series from falling prey to predictability.
The animated series has been streaming since 2016. The actor behind Han from "2 Broke Girls" was cast to bring the character of Vakala to life in the fifth episode of the third season, "The Journey." Vakala was a humanoid alien in charge of running a distant Voltron Coalition outpost.
Matthew Moy has been exploring new film genres since his 2 Broke Girls days
Matthew Moy has been doing comedy since the beginning of his career. However, in recent years, he has decided to step out of his comfort zone and try out new film genres. But as you may have noticed, Moy is the type of actor who avoids being pigeonholed and is always seeking to push himself to keep exploring. Still, fans likely weren't expecting to see Moy explore his acting skills in a horror movie.
"Exorcism at 60,000 Feet" was Moy's first experience in the horror genre. The film follows a group of people on the last flight of a transatlantic airliner. In the middle of the flight, a priest, a rabbi, and part of the airline crew need to perform an exorcism to save the airplane's passengers. This movie was released in 2019, and was directed by Chad Ferrin.
Fun fact: During Moy's interview with HorrorNews.net, the "2 Broke Girls" star stated that the main reason he decided to do the movie was to get puked on. "That's one comedy gag I've never done, and I've had a lot of fluids dumped on me before (comedically)!" he said, though he added that he had always wanted to do a horror movie too.
He almost was a superhero with this Marvel show
One of Matthew Moy's acting achievements seemed to be a lead role in the series "New Warriors," which is based on the Marvel comics of the same name. The series was said to follow the adventures of a group of young people who must learn to master their new abilities and defend the world.
Moy voiced Zach Smith, also known as Microbe. Zach has the ability to talk to germs, as E! noted, and the character was first seen in the comics in 2005. The series also featured a stellar cast with Jeremy Tardy as Night Thrasher, Derek Theler as Mr. Immortal, Milana Vayntrub (the girl from the AT&T commercials) as Squirrel Girl, Calum Worthy as Speedball, and Kate Comer as Debrii. Unfortunately, Freeform walked away from the show, and, while it was reportedly shopped around to other networks like Hulu and Disney+, the series never found a home.
The actor still makes references to his time on 2 Broke Girls
Although Matthew Moy has been involved in different projects over the last decade, his two biggest on-screen successes have been "No Strings Attached" and the sitcom "2 Broke Girls." So, it is not surprising that he continues to refer to that stage of his life. And even though Moy is not quite active on social media, every so often he likes to share throwbacks about his time on "2 Broke Girls" and mention any of his new projects.
In 2020, he announced a contest on Instagram to help small businesses amid the pandemic, sponsored by the "2 Broke Girls" show and The James Beard Foundation. Apparently, Moy always seeks to get involved with non-profit organizations and try to contribute to his community. "Here's a special treat! Enter our @2brokegirlscbs #OpenForGood sweepstakes," he captioned the since-deleted Instagram video, explaining to his followers that the winner could earn a few bucks, while helping the Open For Good campaign that assists the struggling restaurant industry.
Matthew Moy honored his Chinese roots with this movie
Matthew Moy is very proud of his Chinese roots. So, when the possibility of being part of the animated fantasy film "The White Snake: The Origin" arose, he presumably did not hesitate to audition.
Luckily, he was selected to voice the character of Dudou in the English language version of the film. The movie is inspired by the Chinese fable "The Legend of the White Snake." As noted by The New York Times, the story centers on Blanca, a white snake-demon, who loses her memory. Blanca is able to appear as a human woman, and she finds help from a snake hunter. But, at some point, she falls in love with him. The animated movie debuted in 2019.
Moy was so happy to be a part of the film that the "2 Broke Girls" actor posted a photo with the entire cast of the movie on Instagram. "Very honored to get to work with these talented voice actors! The movie is beautiful. And all our English dub actors are Chinese, for a Chinese film!" he captioned the post.
He produced a project all about finding yourself in Shakespeare's works
Participating as a producer, actor Matthew Moy worked on the short film "Love's Labour's Lost." This project from The Shakespeare Workshop focused on the idea of finding yourself in Shakespeare and making Shakespeare's works accessible and inclusive for everyone, something that presumably resonates with Moy's values. What makes it a refreshing film is the subtle way it dealt with current conflicts, such as the oppression of immigrants and women. The film seeks to show women as "strong and capable leaders oppressed by an ingrained ideology."
Moy has promoted the film on Instagram. In a post, the former "2 Broke Girls" star wrote, "Colleges have used this film now, and we are working to get it into high schools. Please support this new and inclusive Shakespearean film company as we try to hold the mirror up to nature!"
2 Broke Girls' Matthew Moy delivered about 2,500 face masks to combat COVID-19
Matthew Moy is the type of person who needs to occupy his time with productive things. For this reason, in the midst of the 2020 pandemic, he decided to start making face masks and donating them. This was a way to stay busy and to not lose his mind while he was helping his city during these uncertain times.
In an Instagram post, Moy explained that he delivered 2,500 face masks with the help of his friend in Los Angeles. "I honestly was not sure if the hospitals would accept my mish mash of supplies ... but the sad honest truth is every single hospital from big to small needed them and well ... they cried," he said. "A little kindness today goes a long way tomorrow," he concluded in his post, reminding us of the importance of being nice to each other.
The actor, though known for his professional achievements, is a down-to-earth person who enjoys helping others and having a low-key life away from the typical Hollywood scandals.
He's focused on his voice acting career now more than ever
Without a doubt, 2020 was a difficult year for many people around the world. In fact, due to the coronavirus, many people have decided to reconsider their life goals. But when it came to Matthew Moy, he's been 100% sure about his career decisions.
In June 2020, Moy was interviewed by Emily Tangerine, a popular Chinese content creator. In the interview, Moy had the opportunity to express his opinion on what the entertainment industry will be like after the COVID-19 pandemic. The actor emphasized that he does not know exactly what the future of Hollywood holds, as many things still seemed uncertain at the time. But Matthew was sure that he would continue to focus on his career as a voice actor.
Luckily, Moy clarified that voice-over auditions had still been "going strong." He shared that he had attended several casting calls for voice-over projects, and he was focused on making over his own home studio in order to make it "more professional" and to achieve better quality in his own projects.
Matthew Moy's hobbies have become more of an important part of his life
When Matthew Moy was interviewed for Trainwreck'd Society, he was asked what a guy like him does for fun in his spare time. After all, the former "2 Broke Girls" star seems to never stop moving and is always occupied with a project.
The actor explained that most of the time you can find him at home — although he also highlighted that his other passion is painting. "Most of the time I am fixing stuff around my house, but I like to draw, go to painting class, cook, work out, go to spin class, hang out with friends and eat sushi ... occasionally I'll travel, but most of the time I like to be at home! Me time is the best!" he confessed in the interview.
Moy has shared his art with his 229,000 followers on Instagram.